Lloyds Bank: More Than 200 Branches To Close

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Britain's biggest retail bank will set out plans next week to close more than 200 branches under a blueprint that will also see 9,000 jobs disappear.

Sky News understands that Lloyds Banking Group will say that a significant minority of its 2,250 branches across the UK will be shut by the end of 2017, ending a three-year moratorium on such closures.

The focus of the axe will be on urban centres where there are already multiple branches under Lloyds' individual brands operating in close proximity, according to one source.

Lloyds has roughly 1,300 branches under its own name, 670 as Halifax and 290 using the Bank of Scotland brand.

While the issue of bank branch closures is a sensitive one, Lloyds hopes that it will escape widespread criticism because its plans will not, for example, leave rural communities without access to their existing nearest branch.

Lloyds has already offloaded more than 630 branches as part of a state aid settlement with Brussels which resulted in TSB being spun out as an independent high street bank.

The plans will be presented to the City by Antonio Horta-Osorio

Adding a further 200 to that figure would mean that approximately 30% of the group's branches would have been offloaded or closed since the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS during the 2008 financial crisis.

Insiders said that Lloyds, which is 25%-owned by taxpayers, would also open some new branches during the next three years, with the exact net closures figure unclear this weekend.

The group would continue to operate the UK's largest branch network even after the plans are implemented, the source added.

People close to the situation pointed out that Lloyds was trying to be transparent by outlining a formal branch closures number, while some rival banks had been closing small numbers of branches on a regular basis but without making public announcements about their actions.

The plans, which will be presented to the City by Antonio Horta-Osorio, Lloyds' chief executive, will demonstrate the bank's vision for automating its customer-facing operations during a period when digital banking is forecast to continue its explosive growth rate.

Sky News revealed during the week that the revised strategy would trigger around 9,000 job losses.

Earlier this year, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) published research showing that UK-based customers conducted almost 40 million mobile and internet banking transactions each week in 2013, a huge increase on the previous year.

The job cuts at Lloyds, which employs roughly 80,000 people, will be on a smaller scale than the cull which has taken place since the merger of Lloyds TSB and HBOS.

Since then, tens of thousands of jobs have been axed at the combined group, and at rivals including Barclays, HSBC and the state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

It was unclear on Wednesday how many of the 9,000 roles affected would be in branches and how many in support roles at, for example, call centres.

The strategy update, which will be unveiled alongside results for the third quarter of 2014, is unlikely to include details of a return to the dividend list, with Lloyds expected to have to wait for the outcome of a Bank of England stress test in mid-December.

A spokesman for Lloyds declined to comment.

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Depiction Of Islamic State Flag Found In Cell

An inmate has been found with a depiction of an Islamic State flag in his cell on the Isle of Wight.

Staff at Parkhurst jail made the discovery during a routine search at the prison.

They also found in the cell what has been described as a "very basic description" of the inside of the prison.

The Ministry of Justice said the discovery demonstrates the facility's "robust security measures".

The convict has now been put in segregation.

There have been reports that a breakout may have been planned.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Vigilant staff found a very basic description of the inside of the prison during a cell search at HMP Isle of Wight.

"This clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of our robust security measures.

"The prisoner is now in segregation."

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Liam Gallagher's Band Beady Eye Splits Up

Former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher has announced the split of his band Beady Eye - the project he started after leaving the group he founded with his brother Noel.

The rock star posted the news on Twitter, but did not explain the reason.

Gallagher formed Beady Eye in 2009 with former Oasis members Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock.

He left his previous band after a series of fallouts with Noel, who then went on to have a successful solo career with his band High Flying Birds.

Gallagher tweeted: "Beady Eye are no longer. Thanks for all your support. LGx"

Video: Noel Gallagher in Kiev

Bell wrote on Twitter: "Thanks to all the Beady Eye fans. I had a blast. See you on the other side. Big Love Andy B X"

The split is likely to prompt speculation that Liam and Noel might be able to bury the hatchet and consider reforming.

Beady Eye released a debut album in 2011 called Different Gear, Still Speeding, which reached number three on the UK album chart.

A second release, BE, made number two in 2013.

One of the band's high points was playing at the London Olympics in 2012, in a celebration of British music.

But, despite the relatively high chart positions of the albums, most of the singles failed to make the Top 40 and the second album sold less than a third of the copies of its predecessor.

In February the band cancelled an appearance at the Coachella festival in California and later that month announced they had parted with manager Scott Rodger.

The band has posted no news on its website since February this year.

Several posters reacting to the news on Twitter said they hoped the news would mean Oasis would reunite.

The band were one of the most successful rock acts of the last 20 years, selling millions of albums and seen by millions of fans live.

Q magazine reported in its December issue that the brothers were talking to each other again after their estrangement, with Noel saying: "We're on good terms, as good as we can be."

But he has given no impression a reunion is likely, and has several live performances lined up in the coming six months.

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Over Five Million Britons In Low-Paid Jobs

A record five million UK workers are now in low-paid jobs, according to a new report.

The Resolution Foundation think-tank said the number of people earning less than £7.69 an hour increased by 250,000 last year to reach 5.2 million.

The increase partly reflected growth in employment, but there was also a reverse in the previous year's slight fall in low-paid work.

Workers in Britain are more likely to be low paid than those in comparable economies such as Germany and Australia, said the Resolution Foundation.

The think-tank's chief economist, Matthew Whittaker, said: "While recent months have brought much welcome news on the number of people moving into employment, the squeeze on real earnings continues. While low pay is likely to be better than no pay at all, it's troubling that the number of low-paid workers across Britain reached a record high last year.

Video: Cameron On Employment

"Being low paid - and getting stuck there for years on end - creates not only immediate financial pressures, but can permanently affect people's career prospects.

"A growing rump of low-paid jobs also presents a financial headache for the Government because it fails to boost the tax take and raises the benefits bill for working people."

He added: "All political parties have expressed an ambition to tackle low pay. Yet the proportion of low-paid workers has barely moved in the last 20 years.

Video: Survey: Scottish Job Growth Slowing

"A focus on raising the minimum wage can certainly help the very lowest paid workers in Britain, but we need a broader low-pay strategy in order to lift larger numbers out of working poverty.

"Economic growth alone won't solve our low-pay problem. We need to look more closely at the kind of jobs being created, the industries that are growing and the ability of people to move from one job or sector to the other, if we're really going to get to grips with low pay in Britain today."

Video: Angry Exchanges Over Job Creation

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Doctors Recruited In Battle To Keep Young Safe

By Lisa Dowd, Sky News Correspondent

Family doctors are being urged to look out for signs of radicalisation, child trafficking and cyber-bullying in their younger patients.

GPs are being sent a 'toolkit' of information by children's charity the NSPCC and the Royal College of General Practitioners to help them make informed and confident decisions about safeguarding youngsters.

"I would like to say we never see cases of abuse but we have seen cases in the surgery recently - some have involved cyber-bullying," said Dr Trish Wildbore, from the Hazelwood Surgery in Coleshill, north Warwickshire.

"What we've found over time is the way people insult or abuse others changes with technology.

"On a recent course of lectures I went on I was horrified to find there's a child trafficking hotspot just a couple of miles from the surgery. Obviously that's quite alarming."

Doctors are also being urged to be on the look out for child trafficking

Further north, in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the scale of child sexual exploitation was missed or ignored by healthcare professionals and others.

A report found at least 1,400 youngsters had been abused over a 16-year period.

Video: 'Lawless Jungle' Of Online Abuse

While the search for victims and perpetrators has widened to other areas, so too has the definition of abuse to include forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

The long list of ailments GPs deal with is being extended to reflect other problems in a changing society.

RCGP chair Maureen Baker said: "Children and young people, today, are facing unprecedented pressures from all angles at a younger and younger age.

"The arrival of the internet and social media has opened up so many opportunities but has also brought many threats, including cyber-bullying, sexting, and revenge porn.

Video: 'I Had No Idea I Was In England'

"Because of the anonymity offered by the internet, many children and young people run a higher risk of being harmed or exploited.

"A consultation with a GP may be the only time that young people can be alone with a trusted adult and we have a number of roles to play in providing understanding, compassion and support."

But patients have mixed views.

"I think doctors generally are already quite busy and it's already hard to try and get appointments," said Brian Griffiths, from Coleshill.

Video: Brits 'At Forefront' Of IS Conflict

"And I'm not sure they're the right people to do this. Cyber-bullying? I'm not sure how a doctor's going to pick that up really."

But Helen Brownsword disagreed. She said: "I think it's a good thing.

"Doctors have got a heavy workload anyway but in the society we live and the things, particularly at a young age, children are into - the internet, that sort of thing - I think the more awareness we make in schools, the doctors, the better."

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Lords Consider Drone Laws Over Privacy Fears

By Tom Cheshire, Technology Correspondent

A House of Lords committee will hear from drone safety experts on Monday about whether legislation needs updating.

The committee is investigating the civil use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and is expected to report its findings in 2015.

The popularity of drones has surged as the technology has improved, leading to a consumer boom in cheaper, simpler models.

Among the questions the committee will seek answers to are the implications of drones for air traffic control, and whether drones will be affected by current data protection legislation.

Earlier this week, a report led by the former head of GCHQ and conducted by the University of Birmingham's Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security said that UAVs pose "significant safety, security and privacy concerns".

Video: Debate Over Paparazzi Tactics

It warned they could also be exploited by burglars, train robbers, poachers and the paparazzi.

But the report also said drones could bring "significant benefits". The commercial drone market is estimated to be worth £7.5bn over the next decade.

Jennifer Gibson, a legal expert on UAVs, told Sky News: "Parliament needs to step up. They need to make sure that outdated laws - which historically were used for things like CCTV cameras or manned aircraft - are updated to address this unmanned threat that is coming and can be used by the average person on the street, or by police forces.

Video: Dubai To Get Drone Deliveries

"There need to be codes of conduct, we need to have discussions about what privacy means in this new world where you can fly something up to someone's window.

"We need to have decisions around how to protect ourselves from the potential use of this in a threatening way."

This week also saw the first UAV conference held in London.

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'Thief' Sparks Major Manhunt In Edinburgh

A suspected motorbike thief hiding out on a roof in the centre of Edinburgh led to a major manhunt involving dozens of police officers and fire crews.

Several streets were cordoned off while the operation got under way in the Old Town area of the city at around 10pm on Saturday.

Rumours of a shooting circulated on social media, but Police Scotland denied there were any firearms involved.

The force said a man has been detained and the cordon has been lifted.

A spokesman said: "It was never a firearms incident.

"Police in Edinburgh were in attendance on the Royal Mile on Saturday evening in connection with an earlier incident of a stolen motorbike and the man was reported to be on the roof of a building in the Cockburn Street area.

"A cordon was put in place so there was no risk to the public and no armed police were involved. Inquiries are ongoing to locate the man."

He added: "A man has been detained and he is helping police with inquiries."

According to reports, more than 50 officers in riot gear were deployed to Cockburn Street, with a police helicopter circling overhead.

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Afghan Fighting Was 'Fruitless And Expensive'

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor

Two men, successive commanders of the Special Air Service, gave the same advice to their superiors.

One even drove the length of Helmand in an unarmoured Land Rover to seek out the truth.

The first to conduct the reconnaissance, in late 2005, met with tribal elders, drug khans and ordinary farmers, and reported back with these words: "There isn't an insurgency in Helmand - but we can give you one."

The next, who also toured the southern Afghan province where opium farmers quietly produced some 70% of the world's heroin base, came back more specific advice.

He told the Ministry of Defence the military estimate of a light brigade of about 3,000 men was only just adequate to secure a British presence in one town, Lashkagar.

"Anything beyond that risked sparking a conflict that we had no way to control," the former SAS commander said.

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1. Gallery: Life In Camp Bastion

   Soldiers from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment relax in transit accommodation as they prepare to leave Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan after a gruelling six month tour

2. British troops cross themselves during prayer as they stand at ease on the parade square at Camp 501, Camp Bastion

3. The coffin containing the body of British Army soldier L/cpl Paul "Sandy" Sandford is carried by his fellow soldiers during his repatriation ceremony

4. Troops from various regiments including Sandford's, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment held a repatriation ceremony for the British soldier killed in action on 6 June, 2007

5. British soldiers play a game of Scrabble as they watch the live broadcast of the Royal wedding

6. Soldiers wait to talk to then Chancellor Gordon Brown, with a cross in the foreground - part of a monument in the memory of fallen comrades

7. Merlin Pilot Wing Commander Nigel Colman Officer Commanding 78 Squadron sits at the back of a Merlin at Camp Bastion

8. Troops observe the minute's silence at Camp Bastion during a special Armistice Day Parade on the 93rd anniversary of the end of the First World War

9. Lieutenant Chris Millen, serving with 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, relaxes in his bedspace in transit accommodation as he prepares leave Camp Bastion

10. Capt Robbie Robertson (left) and Capt Olly Denning spar at Camp Bastion

11. Troops from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards with a Scimitar tank

12. Trooper Ben Rakestrow (right), 21, from Egypt squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, sits on his rather colourful bedspread with friends in transit accommodation at Camp Bastion

13. Royal Military Police (RMP) as they clear their vehicle and its shelter of snow following a rare snow shower

14. British soldier Jamie Anderson lifts weights as he passes time at Camp Bastion

15. A British soldier controls the ball during a football match as comrades (background), and an Afghan National Army soldier, right, look on during a football training session at Camp Bastion

Smarting from the failure to secure Basra in southern Iraq, senior British officers appeared to both SAS bosses as anxious to recover the forces reputation but blind to the potential costs and the resources kicking the Helmand hornet's nest would need.

It was kicked in 2006. Within weeks of their deployment in Helmand many in 16th Air Assault Brigade were fighting in Forward Operating Bases for their lives.

In Musa Qala, Now Zad, Sangin and along a chain of 'platoon houses', units came close to being overrun and massacred.

Besieged for weeks that stretched into months, they ran perilously close to running out of food, water and ammunition.

The landscape beyond their walls was torn and smashed by wave upon wave of airstrikes against insurgents.

Video: Key Moments In The Conflict

This set the pattern for the next three years.

Tough infantry fighting gave ample opportunity for winning medals and the testing of British fighting spirit. It did nothing for the lives of Helmandis but bring violence.

The troops loved it. The media, myself among them, loved it too. But it was, in the end, entirely fruitless, expensive, bloody and the result of military hubris.

Too few troops were sent, too lightly armed, without sufficient helicopters to do the job.

Proof of this is that by 2010 the province was so angry that about 40,000 troops, 30,000 of them American, were fighting across Helmand and peace was brought to none of it.

Video: Fallon: Afghanistan Now Safer Place

As NATO forces have been withdrawn large chunks of the province have already slipped away from limited government control. Musa Qala and Now Zad have gone, Afghan troops are hanging on to a small base in Sangin.

And the drug khans are enjoying an unprecedented boom. Opium revenues are up by a third this year to $3bn.

Now the Union flag has been lowered, and the last troops pulled out of Camp Bastion, Helmand is to be left to the Afghans to deal with.

NATO's boot is being pulled out of the nest. Let's hope the hornets go back to it.

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Britain's War In Afghanistan Comes To An End

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

Britain's war in Afghanistan is officially over.

In a symbolic ceremony at Camp Bastion, the Union Flag was lowered for the last time, marking the formal handover of power to Afghan Forces.

That simple act brought the 13-year war to an end for British forces - the longest conflict in modern times.

At a peak, 9,500 British military personnel were based in Afghanistan as part of Operation Herrick.

Camp Bastion was the epicentre of operations. A further 136 smaller bases were dotted around Helmand Province in the south of the country.

Towns such as Musa Qala, Sangin and Nad Ali, were scenes of bloody fighting. They became infamous in Britain for the toll fighting took on British forces.

Video: Key Moments In The Conflict

In total, 453 British lives were lost fighting the Taliban. Thousands more were injured, many permanently.

The deadliest year was 2009, when 108 British troops were killed.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told Sky News: "Afghanistan is now a safer, most prosperous and democratic place than when we started.

"We've not eliminated the insurgency but what we have done, through the British troops' sacrifice, is given Afghanistan the best possible chance of a safer future by training a 300,000-strong Afghan army and security force."

Video: Fallon: Afghanistan Now Safer Place

Camp Bastion grew out of nothing to become a monstrous fortress in Helmand to accommodate ever-growing numbers of troops and the increasing demands of a vicious fight against the Taliban insurgency.

Early on the British Government sought to wipe out the illegal opium poppy trade, but that failed and the mission moved on.

An 11,500 ft runway was built allowing the largest transport planes to fly in at any time of the day or night. Bastion became the third busiest British airport after Heathrow and Gatwick.

The first rotations of troops deployed with sub-standard equipment, when the initial emphasis was on reconstruction.

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1. Gallery: A Timeline In Pictures

   October 7, 2001: US President George W Bush announces the US and Britain have started bombing Afghanistan

2. March 26, 2006: The first regular British troops of the Helmand Task Force unload their kit after arriving by helicopter to an American-run base in Lashkar Gah in Helmand

3. April 25, 2006: Defence Secretary John Reid announces Britain's GR7 Harriers would stay on in Afghanistan until at least 2007

4. January 2, 2008: Prince Harry sits with a group of Gurkha soldiers after firing a machine gun from the observation post on JTAC Hill, close to forward operating base Delhi, in Helmand Province

5. February 21, 2008: Prince Harry riding an abandoned motorcycle past his Spartan armoured vehicle, in the desert in Helmand

6. The Ministry of Defence announced in February 2008 that the then 23-year-old Prince, an officer in the Household Cavalry regiment, had spent the past 10 weeks secretly serving in Helmand

7. February 20, 2008: Prince Harry sitting below the turret of his Spartan armoured vehicle as he communicates with other units by radio

8. July 13, 2009: US Marine Sergeant Anthony Zabala runs to safety as an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explodes in Garmsir district of Helmand

9. 2009 saw the most IED attacks of the war so far, with 7,228 IED attacks killing 280 coalition soldiers

10. November 10, 2009: Friends and family react as hearses carrying the coffins of six dead soldiers pass mourners lining the High Street in Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire

11. November 14, 2010: Prince William salutes the memorial to the British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, during a remembrance day ceremony at Camp Bastion

12. Capt Judith Gallagher with the Dragon Runner developed by Qinetiq which can remotely disarm IEDs and can be carried by a soldier in a back pack

13. July 20, 2010: Soldiers from Scots Guards during an operation at an Afghan National Police base on Punjab hill, Helmand

14. January 28, 2011: Mr Miliband arrives at Camp Bastion in Helmand for his first visit to Afghanistan

15. January 29, 2011: Labour leader Ed Miliband, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy and shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander watch a landmine detection exercise at Camp Bastion

16. April 9, 2011: British troops, most of whom are new in theatre starting their tour, travel in a chinook helicopter to Lashkar Gah in Helmand

17. April 10, 2011: A Chinook makes a delivery at Patrol Base Attal in Helmand

18. July 20, 2011: Afghan elders wait for beginning of a handing over ceremony of control of security in the town of Lashkar Gah to the Afghan police and army

19. July 27, 2011: Cpl Ryan Wordsworth of X-Ray Company, 45 Commando Royal Marines, brushes his teeth at Patrol Base Kalang in Afghanistan

20. November 14, 2011: A soldier from the Alpha (Grenadier) company, the 3rd Battalion Royal regiment for Scotland meets a young child on a patrol in Nad e-Ali

21. March 22, 2012: Sergeant Jon Van Zyl of the Princess of Wales' Royal Regiment stands in front of two Mastiff vehicles and beneath Venus and Jupiter in the clear Helmand desert sky

22. December 18, 2012: The Princess Royal talks to Lieutenant Colonel Ben Wrench, Major Angus Watson and Sergeant Gardner in Camp Tombstone during her visit to Camp Bastion

23. January 21, 2013: Prince Harry does a pre-flight check of his Apache helicopter after starting his 12 hour VHR (very high ready-ness) shift

24. Harry scrambles to his Apache

25. April 2, 2013: Petty Officers inspect a Chinook airframe for small arms fire damage as part of the ongoing battlefield maintenance and repair on Camp Bastion

26. October 5, 2013: Soldiers approach a Chinook aircraft in the Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand

27. October 11, 2013: An Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier from 3 Brigade 209 Kandak looks through his rifle scope as he is trained on marksmanship skills at ANA Camp Shorabak, Helmand

28. December 23, 2013: Private Zina Saunders, a dog handler, gives Hazel Christmas presents which were sent by the handler's friends and family in the UK

29. December 23, 2013: Soldiers based at Patrol Base Lash Durai, Afghanistan get into the festive spirit

30. October 3, 2014: David Cameron addresses British troops at Camp Bastion in Helmand for the final time before troops wind down their mission in Afghanistan

Very quickly they found themselves in close-quarter fights. New technology had to hurried through to protect against the Taliban's maturing tactics, principally roadside IEDs.

A shortage of helicopters to move troops, equipment and supplies, was finally addressed after considerable public and media pressure on the government and senior military chiefs.

The hospital in Bastion became a world leader in trauma medicine, attracting and training the brightest surgeons and nurses from the military and NHS.

If a casualty made it to the hospital within an hour of being wounded on the battlefield they had an incredible 98% chance of survival.

1/15

1. Gallery: Life In Camp Bastion

   Soldiers from 2nd Royal Tank Regiment relax in transit accommodation as they prepare to leave Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan after a gruelling six month tour

2. British troops cross themselves during prayer as they stand at ease on the parade square at Camp 501, Camp Bastion

3. The coffin containing the body of British Army soldier L/cpl Paul "Sandy" Sandford is carried by his fellow soldiers during his repatriation ceremony

4. Troops from various regiments including Sandford's, the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regiment held a repatriation ceremony for the British soldier killed in action on 6 June, 2007

5. British soldiers play a game of Scrabble as they watch the live broadcast of the Royal wedding

6. Soldiers wait to talk to then Chancellor Gordon Brown, with a cross in the foreground - part of a monument in the memory of fallen comrades

7. Merlin Pilot Wing Commander Nigel Colman Officer Commanding 78 Squadron sits at the back of a Merlin at Camp Bastion

8. Troops observe the minute's silence at Camp Bastion during a special Armistice Day Parade on the 93rd anniversary of the end of the First World War

9. Lieutenant Chris Millen, serving with 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, relaxes in his bedspace in transit accommodation as he prepares leave Camp Bastion

10. Capt Robbie Robertson (left) and Capt Olly Denning spar at Camp Bastion

11. Troops from 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards with a Scimitar tank

12. Trooper Ben Rakestrow (right), 21, from Egypt squadron, 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, sits on his rather colourful bedspread with friends in transit accommodation at Camp Bastion

13. Royal Military Police (RMP) as they clear their vehicle and its shelter of snow following a rare snow shower

14. British soldier Jamie Anderson lifts weights as he passes time at Camp Bastion

15. A British soldier controls the ball during a football match as comrades (background), and an Afghan National Army soldier, right, look on during a football training session at Camp Bastion

Although combat operations are now over, British involvement in Afghanistan will continue for a number of years.

A few hundred will be based at the Qargha Officer Training Academy outside Kabul.

It has been nicknamed "Sandhurst in the Sand" and is Britain's contribution to Operation Resolute Support, the name for the training and advisory mission to Afghan forces.

Special Forces operations will also continue in the country for the foreseeable future. 

When asked if British troops could return in a combat role, Lord Dannatt, the former Chief of The General Staff, told Sky News: "You can't rule anything in, you can't rule anything out. If my judgment of the Prime Minister's feeling on this is correct, I wouldn't see a situation in which British combat troops would go back in."

And questioned about the change seen in the once warring nation, the former Head of the Army, Gen Sir Mike Jackson, told the Murnaghan programme: "Is Afghanistan perfect? No, of course it isn't. Has it got a long way to go? I suspect it has. But I do think it is a better place." 

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Portsmouth Man Charged With Terror Offence

A 23-year-old man from Portsmouth has been charged with preparing a terrorist act.

Mustakim Jaman, from the Southsea area of the city, was arrested on 14 October as counter-terrorism police carried out an investigation in Hampshire and London.

He was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday.

A statement from Hampshire Constabulary said: "Mustakim Jaman was charged under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 - preparation of terrorist acts.

"He was arrested as part of a number of warrants executed across Hampshire and London by officers from the South East Counter Terrorism Unit (SECTU) on Tuesday 14 October.

"Jaman was remanded in custody to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court tomorrow."

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